


from an arrow scratch

by blooming_sun



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greek Religion & Lore Fusion, Implied Sexual Content, Inspired by Eros and Psyche (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), M/M, Modern Setting Retelling of Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Mount Olympus (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Mythical Beings & Creatures, Neighbors, Not Canon Compliant, cupid san, dionysus mingi, eros and psyche with a twist, eros san, hades hongjoong, human Wooyoung, lamia seonghwa, modern olympus, psyche wooyoung, secret santa gift, short mention of blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blooming_sun/pseuds/blooming_sun
Summary: As the god of love, San wonders why his mother requested him to shoot a human on earth so he would fall for the monster next door.Years later San doesn't have to question anymore, he wouldn't change anything at all.
Relationships: Choi San/Jung Wooyoung, Choi San/Jung Wooyoung/Park Seonghwa, Choi San/Park Seonghwa, Jung Wooyoung/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 10
Kudos: 43





	from an arrow scratch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [calamitylink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/calamitylink/gifts).



> Hi!! This is a secret santa gift for @calamiteez on twitter. I hope you an whoever reads it enjoys!!

San barely managed to crawl out of bed and sat on the ground for a solid fifteen minutes, his body not strong enough to be awake yet. The day before Mingi had sent him a text with a location somewhere downtown in the Underworld and San gave in, as always. He’d have been mad to turn down drinks paid by Dionysus himself. 

How Mingi managed to be part of the board of directors and still have time and energy to go clubbing almost every single night was a mystery. 

After several glasses of gin, a fearless Yeosang had asked San to shoot Jongho right then and there. He needed some love from the younger man. When San said he would only do it per celestial request and payment, Yeosang pestered Hongjoong to help him instead, ignoring when he argued he was Hades and had no aspirations in doing so. Mingi ordered round after round of drinks (with names San couldn’t remember) and made sure to let Yunho know he’d be down for more fun. Only San had remained free of these situations.

Any poor soul that watched the group from outside only saw a bunch of drunk deities in suits and their sober sponsor, Dionysus.

San laughed as he was reminded of the bill at the end of the night, regretting it immediately after feeling his head pound like he had hit it on a wall. Realization kicked in right after. 

The task. He had received an assignment to shoot two people with an arrow today. It was a request coming from his mother via his boss, Zeus, which was odd. 

A human and a Lamia. 

A sigh escaped, sheer willingness to actually get up and dress accordingly absent. He adored his job, and adored being the one making people fall in love, but when these tasks were ordered by his mother over petty motives ― such as being annoyed by a human’s beauty and ordering for them to fall for a monster ― it wasn’t as fun as usual. 

He received tasks of all sorts. Those his brothers had already played with and those other gods needed to get done. The most common ones were teens and adults in their thirties. For the teens either he shot them when at school or the street, at a party, or hang outs, their fun little dates. He even in the middle of class. 

It was Pothos, one of his brothers, that always played chess with the younger hearts, making them yearn and long for friends, celebrities, movie characters and older students. And it was Himeros and Anteros who made these same teens cry and give up on love or thrive and think they held the world in their hands. Both even meddled with those talking over the internet, which made San’s job that much more difficult.

The adults, San thought, tended to be more interesting. Sometimes one had such a distorted image of love or was such a skeptic that San had to actually call in and ask his hirer for more time. Adults had gotten through much more than kids or teens and their lives were so different that he had to make entire plans to shoot his target. There were times he had to shoot the same person twice, because they were stubborn or dense. 

Sometimes he received tasks to shoot the same people more than once. A lot. His arrows weren’t eternal, as much as love wasn’t. That was why he enjoyed his job. To see how the lives of those he once shot had differed from the last time he saw them. 

San mustered his reflection for a few minutes, adjusting the peplos with golden pins before carefully placing the crown of red roses on his head. Since Love was a never ending business, he walked around in the soft fabric more often than not, reason for that being the fact that on official duty in the realm of the mortals San was required to wear it. 

San walked around his kitchen table, drinking coffee and staring at the assignment form in his hand. Curiosity ran over him like cold wind shivers in fall time. What did this human look like? Who exactly was the Lamia? These two were neighbors according to the task form. They would’ve at least met once, right? Right. If he was lucky, these two could be acquaintances or even friends and it would be totally fine. 

* * *

San was not expecting the mess he had put himself in. 

It began with clocking in at Olympus Corp. and descending to the realm of the mortals, earth, to be precise. He flew over the beautiful landscape, covered by buildings in all colors and sizes, streets, gardens, parks, people and cars. Invisible and in no hurry, San had time to take in everything. Time passed differently for him and he would take advantage of it.

Farther away an University dorm building came into view, painted in a hideous green tone. So that was where these two lived. How did his mother find this mortal? Jung Wooyoung was the name? San double checked the task form. This was definitely the right place. Individual dorms on the sixth floor. This was it.

San flew closer, descending slowly to near the windows. If someone were to see him, it would look very much like a stalking situation, however that was his job and he would do it right. They could be anywhere, he imagined. From the information he gathered the day prior, Wooyoung and the Lamia lived somewhere around the middle part of the sixth floor and while Wooyoung had hung up a fairy light on his window, the Lamia had purple curtains. Should be easy enough to find. 

Bingo.

San thought he might have to sit on the ceiling and wait for them to be seen in the same location, but he was lucky today. He sensed both hearts being present in the building. One, probably the human’s, racing in nervousness and the other, beating steadily. He stopped in front of the window that belonged to the Lamia, curtains open and giving him a free view of what happened inside. 

Almost touching the glass, San crouched by the window, his eyes searching for the tenant. Over the messy bed filled with purple and black cushions and another great amount of crystals and shimmery junk sprawled on a shelf, San saw that the door stood open and a blond person leaned against the frame of it. That was without a doubt the Lamia, Park Seonghwa. Keeping habits of collecting shiny objects, San noted. 

Voices could be heard, but no words were distinguishable over a loud tune playing. Concentrating on the voices, he understood someone was most likely not agreeing to the chosen track and by the way the voice got louder, San was sure it was the human Jung Wooyoung complaining. 

The discussion kept going, the human’s voice rising by the minute and getting frustrated to the point San could sense his heart getting even more agitated and hear words.

“...I’m serious!”

Silence.

“I’m not going to-”

Silence. 

“No! I don’t want Linkin Park’s ‘support’! What I want is for you to turn it down, idiot!”

An answer Wooyoung didn’t like, because his voice got even louder. 

“The fuck do I care?!”

Silence.

“Yes, Seonghwa! Your fake glam rocker aesthetic is stupid! Stupid!”

Silence.

“You’re so- God, you’re fucking annoying!”

San chuckled.  _ God _ . If only the human knew.

With that the human walked away and Seonghwa closed the door, hitting his head on it, apparently frustrated. Before San even got the chance to change windows, the man took out his phone and paused the music then opened the door once again and walked out. Getting interesting, San thought.

Not knowing if he should, San sat at Wooyoung’s open window and took a look. The table was covered in notes and books, takeout boxes lying around and a bunch of black clothes on the bed. Seemed like Wooyoung was a busy person. He got the impression the man lived for studying and watching animation series, going by the numerous posters of characters hanging on the walls.

The one in question was sitting at his desk, hiding his face in his hands. His heart still racing.

San had yet to see Wooyoung’s face. The face even Aphrodite got jealous of. He could see black hair and sun kissed skin, nothing else and curiosity was beginning to eat him from the inside. The bow and arrow on his back began getting heavy. He needed to shoot Wooyoung, but he needed Seonghwa to be with him. Besides, he felt the need to see him.

“Come on, Wooyoung, look over here...” he whispered to himself, fixing his rose crown once again.

Interrupting his thoughts, Wooyoung had turned to his own door, somebody had knocked and he seemed to consider opening it. After a few seconds, surely for effect, he adjusted his gray hoodie and stood up. 

It could’ve been anyone wanting something. Yet, San knew exactly who it was. 

San expected a continuation to the discussion of before or an apology, the better option. How wrong he was. From his seat at the window, San became the prime bystander of two hands grabbing Wooyoung by the neck and pulling him closer, almost making him trip over his own feet. That was definitely a kiss, a very passionate one at that. In a second both stumbled back into the dorm room, Seonghwa closing the door behind him.

Oh.  _ Oh. _

Now  _ this _ , San grinned, this was interesting. And so much better.

“Let’s do this,” San mumbled, reaching behind him to take his bow and arrow out.

The familiar weight of his bow felt like a relief. Each and every time San would hold it, the rush of inexplicable need for using it runned over him. From his toes to the tip of his white wings. It meant work, his talent, the reason for his existence. Love. He was ready.

Wooyoung and Seonghwa had landed on the bed, not letting go of each other, hands all over the place, not making San’s job easier. He needed the human to show him his back. 

“Turn around, turn around,” San whispered, pleading almost. 

That was when everything had crumbled to pieces. 

Because Wooyoung did turn around. To face San. Obviously he didn’t know San was there, but the latter clearly felt dark eyes looking right through him as Seonghwa had sat him on his lap and started kissing his neck. 

Full lips smiling, with a hint of a smirk of approval. Almost black eyes staring at the window from under long black bangs. His skin, warm and probably soft to the touch. San felt goosebumps creep up his arms with the way the man turned his head, exposing his collarbones. 

It was in his wings. Cold running down blending with warmth. Aphrodite was right. Never had she been so right, San dared to say. Jung Wooyoung  _ was  _ of unearthly beauty. 

Ring covered hands rolled the human over and for a split second San got a glimpse of the Lamia. Such delicacy for a sharp face. Softness on his lips, but fire in his black eyes, the blond hair falling in his face quickly. The two sat up, hands searching for hair and waists, not ever stopping to catch a breath. 

San sat there. Bow in his hands and no courage. No strength. Mesmerized and enchanted by both men kissing unaware of his presence.

“Holy shit.” San slapped himself. He had a task to fulfill. Simple and effective as was expected of him. 

An arrow, he reminded himself, he needed an arrow to shoot. 

In his haste San reached behind him, taking out a wooden arrow with a silver tip, not paying any attention at all. His eyes could only focus on one thing. Wooyoung and Seonghwa. It was impossible to ignore their distinct heart beats, unsynchronized and in different places. 

It happened as he tried to align arrow and string.

Eyes and mind too distracted, San didn’t feel the tip grazing him until it was too late to do something about. A fine line of blood on his finger, as thin as a papercut and enough to cause problems. It hadn't begun to sting yet. 

“Shit.”

San aligned the arrow in a haste, aimed at Jung Wooyoung’s back and shot. While San’s finger buzzed, the arrow hit its target with so much speed, not even the human’s body could hold it, given it went through and pierced Park Seonghwa’s chest.

There was no time to reconsider anything, San could see the blood forming a droplet. San was the god of love, he was Eros, and still, no one had ever let him know what an arrow hitting you would feel like. This had never happened before. In his veins something started to change, everything swirled around, warm yet ice cold, so cold his wings shivered. Blood rushed quicker, his heart working triple as fast. What was happening? 

“What the hell?!”

“The fuck?!”

San heard it before his mind was understanding who said it and in relation to what exactly. Both men were looking straight at him and there was no mistake in that. 

“I’m screwed,” San declared, almost dropping his bow when he lost his balance, holding onto his flower crown and cursing himself.

* * *

Deeply lost in his memories, San didn’t hear the voice calling for him from somewhere too far away for him to truly be hearing it at all. Eventually the voice was close and he was shaken by a set of hands.

“I’ve been calling you for five minutes, what are you daydreaming about?” Wooyoung sat down next to him, resting against his shoulder, careful not to hurt San’s wings.

“I bet you your pretty ring he was dreaming our little meetup back to memory,” Seonghwa, standing in front of them, chuckled. 

“Love?” 

San looked between the two men, brushing some hair out of Wooyoung’s face,, “Uh… Yeah, yeah I was.”

“Pay up, sweetie,” Seonghwa stretched out his hand.

“That’s not fair!” Wooyoung cried out, not even looking at Seonghwa as he passed him the ring that was previously on his finger.

Seonghwa smiled, “Who said anything about fairness?”

“You’re always teaming up!” 

“Never did that,” Seonghwa leaned forward.

“He just agrees to whatever you say,” Wooyoung cried out, crossing his arms.

“Then you shouldn’t be complaining about this to  _ me _ ,” Seonghwa was now almost face to face with his boyfriend.

“Snake!” 

“Human!” Seonghwa mimicked Wooyoung’s hiss tone.

“Mortals!” San chimed in, laughing when both men shot him daggers for intruding in their discussion, “Sorry.”

Wooyoung stood up, putting his button down into place, “You ready to go?”

San checked his pockets for keys and wallet before giving an answer, “Sure thing.” 

“Wings,” Seonghwa reminded San and he thanked him before turning his beautiful wings invisible. “I’m taking this,” Seonghwa gestured between Wooyoung and himself, “To the car.”

In between Wooyoung’s complaints and whines about the unfairness of it all, San held Seonghwa’s hand and hugged Wooyoung by his waist, in an effort to calm him down. There was rarely a day which wouldn’t include his boyfriends bickering about the most random things and subjects. Just like in the past. Didn’t matter that they now lived together or that San occasionally left the celestial realm to spend time with them in the small apartment, of course, whenever he had time and days off. 

As promised, Seonghwa didn’t stop for even a second to make Wooyoung understand he was in the wrong as always. Meanwhile Wooyoung, moping in the passenger seat, looked behind him asking San for some backup.

“Baby, that’s between you two,” San chuckled, knowing it would piss him even more off.

“Where is that love you swore upon just yesterday?!” Wooyoung turned his body around, giving San a pleading look, “You told me you loved me this morning! You liar!”

“Don’t use him as a shield, baby,” Seonghwa said, making a left turn. 

“That’s what I’m trying to say, love,” Wooyoung pointed at San’s innocent face, “You’re always on Hwa’s side. Help  _ me  _ for once!”

“Is all of this because of the ring?” Seonghwa asked, already aware of the answer.

Wooyoung stared. 

“I won’t give it back, you know?” 

San lost it at Wooyoung’s expression of shock. Seonghwa could be in his human form or in his original, beautiful snake like body, he would inevitably be drawn to any pretty valuable objects he could collect. This hadn’t changed. 

“Fine, I’ll give up. But just because it’s you and it looks good on you,” Wooyoung frowned, crossed his arms and huffed for dramatic effect.

Once inside the restaurant, Seonghwa linked his hands with Wooyoung and didn’t let go of him even as they sat down, vis-a-vis with San on Wooyoung’s right side. Wooyoung would not even remember what they bickered about in the first place. All it took was Seonghwa’s cold hands to trace patterns on his hand or kiss it softly and San to give him his warmest smiles and he was gone. 

“God, it’s been so freaking long since we went out to eat together,” Wooyoung seemed content, because he was ignoring San’s chuckle on ‘God’, of course.

“Try telling my boss I could use vacations,” San flipped the menu, to show Seonghwa the wine section, “‘There’s not a day people won’t fall in love, Eros,” San imitated Zeus, voice lower and pretentious.

“Yeah, yeah,” Seonghwa dismissed the quote, “He forgets your brothers also work at Olympus Corp.”

“And that I have two very pretty and impatient boyfriends to tend to.”

Wooyoung let his eyes travel over San, eyes stopping at the other’s lips, “Impatient indeed.”

“Don’t you worry, I have the entire day off,” San grinned as he lifted Wooyoung’s chin softly with one finger.

“We’re at a restaurant,” Seonghwa reminded them, not taking his eyes off the menu, “And I want red wine.”

“I’ll tell you what I want right now-” Wooyoung started, but quickly swallowed his words when the waitress approached them.

The rest of the conversation was held under Seonghwa’s profoundly focused gaze, his eyes flickering between the two younger men. Needless to say Wooyoung commented on a lot more than San’s choice in a black jacket or the eyeliner he used. 

It was on the ride back home that San let his mind wander back to the day he met them. Had he done his job right (according to his mother and Zeus, that is) he would never be where he was now. With Wooyoung’s head on his shoulder, sleepy and humming to the rock song on the radio and Seonghwa driving, smiling at the image of them in the rearview mirror. 

The arrow might have only grazed San instead of lodging itself into flesh like it had with Wooyoung and Seonghwa, however it had not lost its effect. They had started off in shock, asking him hundreds of questions, confused and curious. There was no mistake the two neighbors at the time were fond of each other, but it was a bit of an incognito as to how San would fit in that picture. 

He’d only grazed himself, but the damage was done.

After what seemed like an eternity of bureaucracy and pleads, Zeus had allowed him to go back and try to sort his own mess out.

Wooyoung was the most confused, having to understand that both San and Seonghwa were actually real, so it took days and weeks for him to fully comprehend the extensive answers he was given. That way San was forced to return at least four times. 

Each time the thin wound on his finger would burn and sting more and more, until he gave up and let himself get close to the couple. They became friends, aware of the fact all three had had their body affected by the same arrow. 

Years ago he had asked himself why Aphrodite would have wished for Wooyoung and Seonghwa to fall in love. Had it been anyone else, would he have been so entranced by their presence that the one motion he repeated day after day failed? Or was the arrow an excuse to justify the chaos in his chest?

His mother had seen god-like beauty in Wooyoung and seen Seonghwa as a heartless monster. San got to truly meet them, talk to them, laugh with them, cry with them and spend countless hours with them before his heart decided on its own what to do. He’d been embraced in their arms and made part of their lives quickly. 

When he tried to look back, it was difficult to understand when exactly he had started seeing in them kindness, warmth, laughter, understanding and love. So the friends turned into boyfriends. San stored these memories so deeply in his heart, it would be near impossible to ever forget them. 

There were no more questions San could possibly want answers for. 

As his eyes found Seonghwa’s snake like ones in the mirror and his hand brushed through Wooyoung’s soft black hair, he had all the certainty he needed.

He would have fallen for them without grazing himself.

“Wooyoung, sweetie, you owe me another pretty ring of yours.”

“I’m going to sell your stuff.”

“Even the engagement ring?”

“That one first.”

**Author's Note:**

> There you go @calamiteez I hope you enjoyed this late secret santa :]


End file.
